The "Mayan Apocalypse" is ancient prophecy, if by "ancient" you mean "from the 1970s" and if by "prophecy" you mean "shroom trip"

‘Mayan Apocalypse’ Started With A Bad 70s Mushroom Trip, Not Ancient Civilization

The Mayan Apocalypse prophecy didn’t come from ancient civilization, and that the idea is hardly older than 30-40 years, give or take. Two New Age books in the 70s and 80s are to blame for our apocalyptic fears. The books detail an “upgrade” to human consciousness, predicted by a spirit from the seventh century, and that the whole thing came about from a magic mushroom trip, reports Yahoo.

Headline via Fark.

Jonah Goldberg has an excellent rant on the lack of updated toaster technology

Read the whole thing:

I’d bet the average person burns their toast just as much today as they did a half-century ago (reliable data on this is hard to find). I ask you: Why, man (or woman), why?

It’s not like there isn’t a market for such things. I’d wager more Americans own toasters than iPhones. It’s not like heating bread is a realm of human technological knowledge that cannot be further advanced (if such a realm exists). More plainly, it is not as if there aren’t technologies at hand today that wouldn’t improve the toasting experience if thoughtfully incorporated into a new generation of toasting devices.

School District Owes $1 Billion On $100 Million Loan

The School District Equivalent Of A Payday Loan

Capital appreciation bonds, known as CABs, are unlike typical bonds, where a school district is required to make immediate and regular payments. Instead, CABs allow districts to defer payments well into the future — by which time lots of interest has accrued.

In the West Contra Costa Schools' case, that $2.5 million bond will cost the district a whopping $34 million to repay.

Monday links

Coconut-Flavored Pineapples Invented by Mistake by Australian Scientists.

GRAPHIC: What Your Beer Says About Your Politics.

1983 Radio Shack computer catalog. Check out the prices!

The Banned Pokémon Episode That Gave Children Seizures.

30 Baby Animals That Will Make You Go ‘Aww’.

John McAfee’s (of the horrible anti-virus program) recent Central American troubles, via Taiwanese animation